Arizona QB Noah Fifita trending toward start with Jayden de Laura's status questionable

As the Arizona Wildcats prepare to host No. 7 Washington Saturday, UA head coach Jedd Fisch lauded second-year quarterback Noah Fifita during his final news conference of the week Thursday, calling Fifita “the ultimate professional, meaning every single day he shows up to work, ready to be the next quarterback.”

Fifita, who stepped in for injured Arizona quarterback Jayden de Laura during the fourth quarter of last week’s conference-opening win over Stanford on the road, is trending towards making his first-career start under center against Washington, while de Laura continues to rehab an ankle injury he suffered at the end of the third quarter at Stanford.

Fisch said de Laura was “certainly out of (Wednesday’s) practice, so we’ll have to see what it looks like (Thursday) to make some more decisions.”

True freshman right guard Raymond Pulido, who missed the first three games following a bicycle accident, isn’t expected to play against Washington after leaving the Stanford contest with a left ankle injury; Canadian Leif Magnuson will likely start in his place.

De Laura and running back Michael Wiley, who also exited the Stanford game with a lower-body injury and didn’t return, “will work out Saturday” to see if they’re able to play.

“We’ll see how they look,” Fisch said.

Fisch compared the injury situations of de Laura and Wiley to the “Joe Burrow plan.” The Cincinnati Bengals quarterback star nursing a calf injury since July, albeit he has played in all three games for Cincy this season.

For de Laura and Wiley, “the most important thing you can do as a football player is protect yourself,” Fisch said.

“If you’re unable to protect yourself, then I would expect them not to play,” he added. “If they’re able to protect themselves, then I would expect them to play.”

The limited availability of de Laura and Wiley in practice won’t deter Fisch and the Arizona coaches from playing them in comparison to others. Arizona senior and starting defensive tackle Bill Norton was limited in practice last week for a shoulder injury and didn’t log any defensive snaps, but still played special teams.“That is certainly something we need to look at for each play independently and individually,” Fisch said. “Jayden has started 32 football games already in his career. Mike has started somewhere in that same range. That’s very different for a guy who has only started four games or two games or seven games or whatever it might be.

“We are always cautious of that. We don’t want to set a precedent of how much you practice is how much you will play.”

If de Laura and Wiley are unable to play on Saturday, Fifita and sophomore running back Jonah Coleman, who led the Wildcats in rushing with 12 carries for 75 yards at Stanford, will make up the Wildcats’ new backfield.

Fifita’s 16 snaps at Stanford, which included a go-ahead touchdown drive and a possession to seal the Wildcats’ third triumph of the season, were the first meaningful snaps of his career. The 5-11, 194-pound Fifita said “a lot of coaches, a lot of my teammates, the offensive guys made sure I was good and comfortable, and I just appreciate all of the faith they had in me, between my teammates and my coaches.”

Despite understudying de Laura for over a year, Fifita has constantly carried himself as a starter in the wings.

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Earlier this season, Fisch said his “comfort level with Noah gets greater and greater and greater and greater.”

“He can run a practice, no problem. If we have to give Jayden a day off, no problem,” Fisch said. “He walks in there and he has incredible ability to communicate the play. He has a great ability to get in and out of the huddle.

“So I would say I feel very comfortable with Noah. He knows the offense inside and out,” Fisch added. “The team feels very comfortable with Noah. He throws a very good ball as we know. And the team is excited that we have both those quarterbacks at any given moment.”

In Palo Alto, Fifita was among the first players out on the field for pregame warmups. Backup or not, Fifita stays ready so he doesn’t have to get ready.

“One thing about him is that he’s always going to be prepared,” said Arizona linebacker Jacob Manu, who was also Fifita’s teammate at Anaheim Servite High School.

Fifita “knows he’s one play away,” Fisch said.

“He’s been told he’s one play away for as long as he’s been here. His preparation has never changed, his film study has never changed, his note-taking has never changed, and now the only difference is it’s time to go, if that opportunity presents itself,” said the Arizona head coach. “If it does, Noah will be ready. And if it doesn’t, then Noah will be ready to play, too, or beyond. He’s played a lot of football and this is not his first time going out there.

“This won’t be his first time that he’s had to line up under center, but it certainly is a different challenge than when you go in at the end of the game against Utah or at the end of the game against Colorado when the score was out of hand,” Fisch added. “When you go into last week’s game, it kind of gives you a different feel. You’re down 17-14, you’re on the road in a game where we were the favorites, let’s call it, and he managed that well.”

Extra points

Fisch, on building up the UA program to have anticipated games against highly-ranked opponents: “It’s been a process all the way throughout. We talk about you can either build a team or build a program. We were very hard to try and build a program. We understand that we’re not nearly where we want to be at. We’re still trying to continue to improve in every facet of our program. ... As I look at our program and where we’re at, this is a great opportunity for us to go out there and use Washington as a measuring stick and see where we are right now.”

Former Wildcat linebackers Kevin Singleton and Chris Singleton — also known as the “Singletwins” — will be honorary captains on Saturday. The Singleton brothers signed on to play for then-head coach Larry Smith in 1986, but finished their collegiate careers under Dick Tomey. Chris Singleton was drafted eighth overall by the New England Patriots in the 1990 NFL Draft.